2017 has been a whirlwind, and not in a good way. The year's been marked by constant strife in the White House, hundreds if not thousands of sexual assault allegations of dozens of powerful men, and more than a few natural and man-made disasters. As a response, the world's most famous dictionaries have chosen Words of the Year that resonate with the American people at this specific moment. And Oxford Dictionaries' just-announced word is no different.
Nerd alert! Nerd alert! The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for 2017 is here.
2017 has been a doozy, and the Words of the Year that have been announced for each dictionary have reflected the trying times in which we live. Also, just kidding about that "nerd alert" stuff. Everyone knows dictionaries are the coolest.A few weeks ago, Dictionary.com announced that their Word of the Year is "complicit."
via: Getty Images
It was clearly in response to the accusations that Ivanka Trump hasn't used her immense power to influence her father in the way she should. Searches for the word spiked in 2017, and the word clearly touched on feelings that were overwhelmingly strong.Needless to say, the Internet loved the choice.
Dictionary.com became the hero of the resistance, if even for just a moment. It became very obvious that the words people use are dependent on what's happening in society — in short, Donald Trump, in addition to everything else, has had an effect on the language we use.In a similar move, Merriam-Webster (another cool dictionary) named "feminism" its Word of the Year.
2017 saw both a sustained rise in 'feminism' lookups and a number of event-driven spikes. 'Feminism' is our… https://t.co/xy63zWLtXr— Merriam-Webster (@Merriam-Webster)1513056758.0
And now, in the same spirit of Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster, Oxford Dictionaries announced its timely, relevant, and powerful Word of the Year:
YOUTHQUAKE is the Oxford Dictionaries #WordOfTheYear 2017. Find out more: https://t.co/BanfCMh2Gi https://t.co/iIQ4ykwUwa— Oxford Languages (@Oxford Languages)1513294083.0
Most were incredibly confused.
The Dictionary people: the word of 2017 is #youthquake! Everyone else: https://t.co/N7T5cyxGGH— Alex Davies (@Alex Davies)1513328240.0
This Twitter user doesn't think anyone's ever said the word before.
#youthquake a word that has never been uttered by a single human until today is the word of the year. 2017 has be… https://t.co/vjW0aKY2m7— The Vault Loon (@The Vault Loon)1513330042.0
Well, we just don't know anyone who's ever said it.
"Teenicane," though, now that's a word we can get behind. What about Kidsoon? Or Adolescentlanche? Preteencano?Youthquake sounds like a word you would use when you're trying and failing to convince young people that you're hip and cool.
'Fellow kids - want to grab a #youthquake & meme our Snapchatters?' https://t.co/U5G1UrwD5h— Toby Earle (@Toby Earle)1513323240.0
OK, this is the best and worth having "youthquake" as the word of the year.
Youthquack #Youthquake https://t.co/ZOkMmKhi7S— Alistair Coleman (@Alistair Coleman)1513329133.0